Beware of the Wise Men, New York by Rory Lancman -- Times Union - Albany NY

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There is much to commend in Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch's recently released plan to address New York's long-term fiscal problems, including its call to change the start of the state's fiscal year from April 1 to July 1, apply Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to the state's budgeting, require multi-year financial planning and require quarterly certification that the state budget is on track, with mandatory adjustments if it is not.But the proposal to turn over this last critically important responsibility to an unelected panel of "highly respected private citizens" (the plan's phrase, not mine), potentially triggering a governor's power to unilaterally impose across the board budget cuts, is misguided. It is emblematic of a certain world view that is simultaneously idealistic and cynical, but either way, undemocratic.

The power to gauge whether the budget is on a five-year track is no trifling thing. It is not a simple question of mathematics. It involves substantial judgment calls about the efficacy of revenue enhancements and cost-saving measures. These are regularly some of the most hotly contested issues in government.

To rip just a few such questions from recent headlines: Will a slight increase in the personal income tax for people making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year raise what its supporters hope? Or far less, because it will drive wealthy New Yorkers to leave the state?

Will downsizing prisons save what supporters claim, or cost the state more money in the long run?

Is the governor's projected deficit in next year's budget correct, or understated by as much as a billion dollars?

These "calculations" are as much based on the values and judgment of the individuals doing the calculating as on any mathematical or accounting formula.

The idealism behind the faith in such "panels of wise men" (and women) is obvious. Removed from the grind of political calculation, and accomplished in their respective fields of business and finance (and perhaps past government service), they are free to do what is right for right's sake.

The cynicism is obvious as well. The wise men can provide cover by delivering the dreadful news that elected officials are too afraid to deliver. When the hard decisions are made, "The wise men made us do it," will be the excuse.

But our experience with other such panels of wise men should give us pause. They have had a bad run of late. Politics is rarely really removed from a panel's deliberations, and appointees as often as not either gleefully exceed the scope of their mandate or slavishly follow the directives of their appointing master.

The panel of three wise men given the task of vetting state comptroller candidates for the Legislature's consideration in 2007 following the resignation of the previous comptroller sat mute for hours upon hours of hearings, and then made the political decision to exclude obviously well-qualified candidates who happened to be legislators.

The panel of wise minds known as the Commission on Judicial Nomination took it upon themselves to exceed their mandate to examine whether candidates for chief judge were well qualified, and instead excluded a plainly well qualified Court of Appeals judge because of extraneous considerations that have yet to be fully explained.

Similar results can be seen with other recent panels and commissions. For example, the New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission was charged by the Legislature with studying congestion in the city. Ultimately, the members who already supported the mayor's congestion price proposal when they were appointed just rubber-stamped his plan along "party lines."

For these reasons, it would be far better to require the Legislature itself or the comptroller to affirmatively certify compliance with a five-year financial plan on a quarterly or semiannual basis, after public hearings on the matter. Ultimately, they answer to the public for their decisions, and their judgment -- good or bad -- is rooted in the authority and legitimacy which only they possess as elected representatives of the people.

In our constitutional order, there is no room for panels of enlightened wise beings to which we can turn over our government to save us from ourselves.

First published in print on Page 1: Friday, March 19, 2010

Assemblyman Rory Lancman, a Democrat, represents the 25th District in Queens.

Ozone Industries Site is Closer to a Cleanup by Lisa Fogerty - Queens Chronicle

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The state Department of Environmental Conservation released a Record of Decision this week to begin a massive clean-up project at a site in Ozone Park where the presence of hazardous waste and known carcinogens pose a significant threat to human health, according to DEC.

The state Superfund project will target the former home of Ozone Industries, an aircraft parts manufacturer that rented several bays between 101st and 103rd avenues between 99th and 100th streets and used them to store hydraulic fluids, scrap metal chips and spent trichloroethylene, or TCE.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, if ingested or inhaled over long periods of time, TCE can cause headaches, nausea and dizziness and is a known carcinogen that has caused liver damage and increased the risk of cancer in animals.

To eliminate or mitigate the threat, the DEC plans to excavate the contaminated shallow soils and construct and operate a soil vapor extraction system and a sub-slab depressurization system in the disposal area.

Both on-site and off-site groundwater, as well as air quality, would be constantly monitored to ensure it isn’t tainted by chemicals, according to the DEC.

At a Dec. 9 public meeting at JHS 210 in Ozone Park, one in which few residents were in attendance because, they said, the DEC did a poor job alerting them to the issue, department officials said their goal is to approve a design plan by this summer and start the cleanup six to 12 months later.

DEC estimated its implementation cost would be $2.2 million, the construction cost would be $1.5 million and there would be an annual cost of $210,000 per year for two years following construction to monitor the system.

The entire cost would be covered by Endzone, the company now responsible for the area, according to the DEC.

Explosives Found in Howard Beach Home by Lisa Fogarty - Queens Chronicle

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Six blocks in Howard Beach were roped off on Thursday after one or more residents were allegedly found squirreling away more than 200 firearms and one “suspected explosive device” in their house, according to police.

Although one arrest was made, the investigation is ongoing and police have not released the suspect’s name or address.

From about noon until 7 p.m. last Thursday, the area surrounding 164th Avenue between 90th and 91st Streets was blocked off by yellow tape and a multitude of police and emergency vehicles were stationed on the block.

According to residents’ reports, several officers were spotted exiting one house carrying myriad bags.

“Nobody knew what was going on, but I heard a father and son were collecting bombs,” one resident said. “That’s what people were saying.”

Safe? Posting and Photos by Mitch Waxman « LIC Millstones Blog

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A recent posting on the LIC Millstone blog of interest to the preservation community...check out the blog and sign their petition here...

I think this is yet another example of the disrespect Queens and the other so-called outer boroughs have been shown by the Bloomberg Administration...it's shameful..!

They hold public hearings but then take none of the suggestions or community input and go full steam ahead with their original plans...

Of course, Mayor Mike and his team know better...

So, after all the noise and argumentative tumult of a public meeting- here’s where the LIC Millstones are being stored. Rephrase that as where they’re being left.


Are due diligence and respect being paid to these historic artifacts? What else, all around our community, is being treated so roughly?

Queens Borough Library To Put Its Archives On Net by Robert Pozarycki - Times Newsweekly

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History buffs and researchers will soon be able to look through old books, news articles and photographs in the Queens Borough Public Library’s archives from their own computers as the library is in the process of digitizing their collection.

Thousands of documents and images in Queens Library’s Long Island Division dating back to the 1800s will be scanned and published online in order to be accessed by Internet users all over the world. To mark the effort, the library also announced that it is renaming the Long Island Division as The Archives at Queens Library, a title which the organization stated “better reflect[s] the true scope of the collections.”

For years, students, historians and others seeking to learn more about Queens’ past have had to travel to the Central library in Jamaica to browse the Long Island Division’s trove of primary documents depicting life in Queens County as well as Brooklyn, Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Queens Library has assembled a Digital Assets Team to organize, scan, archive and digitize the collection for publication on the Internet. John Hyslop, digital asset manager for QBPL, observed that while the task before them is great, there are “hundreds of thousands of primary and secondary materials documenting Queens’ social, economic, political and physical history that historians, students and genealogists from around the world want to see.”

“I am very excited because we will be giving our customers what they want: Internet access to the library’s unique and valuable documentation of Queens and Long Island history, which they can see in their homes, schools or offices,” said Hyslop.

According to Queens Library, the first archive to be digitized is the Hal B. Fullerton Photographs, a collection of 399 images taken between 1880 and 1910 which show various scenes around Long Island, including old Long Island Rail Road cars and stations, original automobiles and car races. It is anticipated that the collection will be published online later this year.

Next, the Digital Assets Team will tackle the Queens Library’s own collection of more than 4,300 photographs depicting life in Queens County between 1880 and 1996. The collection includes images of the first Flushing library branch housed in a bungalow at the corner of Main Street and Kissena Boulevard in Flushing, where the more modern, multi-story branch now sits.

Also included in the library’s collection are images of notable politi- cal figures in Queens and New York over the years. One photograph shows then-Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicating the first book bus.

Images provided by the Queens Borough President’s office will also be digitized in the weeks to come, the library noted. The borough president’s collection includes 1,916 images taken between 1898 and 1958, capturing a wide variety of events from major storms to commercial development.

The library also announced that it will digitize documents housed at the Langston Hughes library in Corona as well as music scores at the Central Library.

Among the other materials to be scanned are documents belonging to Wilson and Jane Rantus, an African- American couple who resided in Jamaica between 1834 and 1883. The collection, which contains receipts, bills and letters gathered by the couple over the years, are known to be the only records for an African- American family living on Long Island during that period of time.

For more information on the Queens Library’s archival efforts, visit www.queenslibrary.org.

Woodhaven Lanes Could Get a New Tenant by Holly Tsang - Forest Hills Times

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After two years of being an eyesore, it looks as if the former Woodhaven Lanes building will once again be a boon to the Queens community.

Following several months of deliberation, Community Board 6 voted last Wednesday to approve a special permit application for a furniture company that has chosen to remain anonymous.

Despite the applicant’s unknown identity, CB6 District Manager Frank Gulluscio said the board did not feel uncomfortable approving the application.

“That piece of property has been vacant for some time,” said Gulluscio. “This will bring jobs, an economic base, and tax base.”

There was some concern regarding the impact on traffic, which is already congested in the area because of the popularity of Trader Joe’s, but the pros ultimately outweighed the cons. Gulluscio added that he hoped DOT would finally get its act together and work with the community board on a plan for the traffic-choked neighborhood.

According to Robert Corroon, a spokesperson for Woodhaven Realty, LLC, which owns the property, the proposed store will be a showroom only, with incoming truck deliveries only once a week from a warehouse in Connecticut. There will be 42 on-site parking spots for customers.

“I think it’s a very good use for this space because it has a low traffic impact, considered one of the lowest traffic impacts of any retail-type use,” said Corroon.

He said that the approximately 50,000-square-foot building would undergo minor renovations to the facade. Woodhaven Realty has already done some landscaping work in the parking lot.

“Certainly, it’s going to make the building much more attractive than what it is right now,” said Corroon. He added, “obviously it will increase sales taxes to the city; the sales tax revenue to the city will be much greater from this use than the bowling facility.”

The application now moves to the Borough President’s office and then the City’s Board of Standards and Appeals, said Gulluscio.

The Bake Sale Ban and the Hypocrisy of the DOE...

NYC Public School Parents blog

Why does the DOE get itself into these messes, like banning PTA bake sales?

Because they never bother to consult with anyone, least of all parents, before making these harebrained decisions.

Excerpt from today's NY Times:

The education department is trying to persuade parents and students to hold food-free fund-raising events, perhaps selling T-shirts, pencils, notebooks, shoelaces or handmade beaded jewelry instead. One option it suggests is selling exercise: the buyer pays for the student to run a certain number of laps around a park or track.

That’ll be a big seller for sure.

What hypocrisy! When it comes to important educational decisions like class size, they say they don’t care and they will leave it up to the principal to decide. When it comes to banning home-made goods from our schools, all of a sudden they have to have the final word.

Check out info about the bake sale protest tomorrow, Thursday March 18 at City Hall at 4 pm; more info at www.nycgreenschools.org

State Senator Joe Addabbo: Metrocard Van Is Coming To Middle Village, Howard Beach and Woodhaven...

For the disabled and senior members of our community, it can be difficult to get around town. In an effort to provide more accessible service, New York City Transit has a mobile outreach program designed especially to serve their needs in their own communities. NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., is sponsoring the agency’s MetroCard Bus to visit his district again this year.

A specially-equipped MetroCard bus will park at Howard Beach and Woodhaven locations on listed dates/times, and MetroCard Mobile Sales staff will assist residents 65+ and disabled customers in applying for Reduced Fare MetroCards. All customers may purchase and/or refill MetroCards; report a lost or stolen card; or have a damaged MetroCard replaced on-site. Seniors applying for a reduced-fare MetroCard will need to bring at least 2 types of identification to the MetroCard bus: Medicare Card, Social Security Card, Birth Certificate, Driver License, or Non-Driver License. A photographer is available on MetroCard buses to complete applications on-site, free of charge. Disabled passengers can get an application on-site, which they must then have completed by their physician, acknowledging their disability.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 31 (rescheduled, due to Passover holiday)

WHERE:

• St. Margaret's Church, 66-16 80th Street, Middle Village (10 AM to 12 Noon)

• NE Corner Forest Parkway & Jamaica Avenue, Woodhaven (1 - 3 PM)

and

WHEN:

• Wednesdays, June 30, September 29 and December 29

WHERE:

• Howard Beach Senior Center, 156-45 84th Street (10 AM – 12 Noon)

• NE Corner Forest Parkway & Jamaica Avenue Woodhaven (1 – 3 PM)

For more information about these events, please call Sen. Addabbo’s office at 718-738-1111.

NYS Senator Jose Peralta Swearing in Ceremony Today...

Newly elected NYS Senator Jose Peralta (13th SD) takes the oath of office today in the senate chamber...(Video)

Ousted State Sen. Hiram Monserrate Loses Bid to Regain Seat as Assemblyman Jose Peralta Triumphs - NY Daily News

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A New York state senator who was expelled after a domestic violence conviction has lost his long-shot bid to get his seat back in a special election.

With 48 percent of the precincts reporting, Assemblyman Jose Peralta had 65 percent of the vote, while Hiram Monserrate had 27 percent. Local Democratic officials had endorsed Peralta, and he was 45 points ahead in a recent poll.

Republican candidate Robert Beltrani garnered 8 percent of the vote in the heavily Democratic district.

Monserrate was ousted from his seat in February after a misdemeanor conviction for dragging his girlfriend through an apartment lobby. He failed to get his expulsion blocked in federal court, but got on the ballot for the special election to fill his old seat in the 13th state Senate district in Queens.

Monserrate apologized for any discredit he brought to the Senate, but said the facial cut his girlfriend suffered that night was an accident. He said the surveillance footage of him pulling her by the arm showed him taking her to the hospital.

Also Tuesday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals explained in writing its Friday decision to reject Monserrate's attempt to get his seat back through a lawsuit.

The court said that even if Monserrate had won in court, he still would not have won reinstatement or been able to cancel the special election.

The assault case was another black eye for state lawmakers already reeling from a series of corruption scandals.

Democratic party leaders had worked hard for Peralta, who raised far more money and grabbed virtually every endorsements from local party and labor leaders. Monserrate also was targeted for defeat by a gay rights group and was heckled at a candidates' debate last week.

But with special elections notoriously difficult to predict because of low turnout, the Peralta campaign focused on getting people to the polls.

Addabbo, Pheffer, Braton & Building Trades: "We Need to Move Forward Quickly on Aqueduct Project"...

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NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., NYS Assemblywoman Audrey I. Pheffer and Community Board 10 Chairperson Betty Braton today urged the Governor, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson, to move forward as quickly as possible with their revamped Aqueduct bidder selection.“Given that no new bidders have entered into the Aqueduct selection process for over a year and that the state has all the financial and background information on the remaining bidders, it is conceivable that a quick, efficient and valid selection of an Aqueduct operator can be made,” Senator Addabbo stated. “In order to realize the thousand construction jobs, hundreds of post- construction jobs, local economic benefit, community gain and state financial benefit, we must move forward in a positive, expedient and thorough manner.”

“We have had too many false starts and stops. This project must move forward in a timely and expeditious manner. I look forward to immediately beginning the process to find a new operator for VLTs at Aqueduct. I will continue to demand that the community concerns and input are included. New York State must work diligently to bring to our community the jobs, employment opportunities and economic stimulus that Aqueduct will provide to our local economy,” said Assemblywoman Pheffer.

Queens Community Board 10 Chairperson Betty Braton agrees: “It is important that after eight years of delay, the Aqueduct VLT project moves forward with a vendor who meets the required conditions put forth last month, in order to provide much-needed jobs for people in the surrounding community, spur area economic development, and provide needed revenue to the state."

According to a March 15 Daily News article, Governor Paterson declared on Monday that the Aqueduct racino project should be back on track within a month, and was hopeful “to find a procedure that would work” within that timeframe. Reportedly, Paterson’s administration was drafting new rules to govern the selection of an outfit that would operate 4,500 video slot machines after his first choice, AEG, was dismissed. The draft of the new selection process is set to go before legislative leaders sometime this week, and apparently would be run more like a regular state bid, overseen by the Lottery Division and making recommendations based on “the best value,” according to a Paterson official. Then the governor’s office and legislative leaders would review that analysis “to get their concurrence,” the official said. The governor also said he intends to meet soon with both Silver and Sampson to discuss the selection of a new bidder.

One leader, Senate Democratic leader John Sampson, wants to simply pick one of the remaining bidders that lost out to AEG, so the state could more quickly benefit from an expected $300 million upfront payment. Another leader, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, is said to prefer an expedited process based on the state’s procurement laws, like Paterson officials. But Silver also insisted on four conditions when AEG was picked, and several are likely to make it into the new process, especially that the winning bidder guarantee an upfront $300 million payment to the state. Paterson aides have said the administration wants to water down a condition that every investor go through a gaming licensing process, something along the theory that was suggested by Speaker Silver, but one that’s actually practical and feasible.

A March 14 Albany Times Union article, “A Debacle at Aqueduct,” sums up the present situation: “The state, meanwhile, can’t count the money that a casino deal of this magnitude would mean fast enough. The best estimate is that the slot machines would bring in $300 million a year, quite a sum for a state in dire fiscal shape. The New York Racing Association, which runs Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga Race Course, has serious money woes of its own, which could be alleviated, in part, with promised slot machine revenue…At least other states that see gambling as a way out of fiscal trouble don’t take nearly 10 years to award casino contracts. The last thing New York needs is to reopen the entire bidding process. It needs, as Senate Democratic leader John Sampson says, to just get it done. And it needs, as Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says, to follow the procurement laws this time. Doing it right, in other words…”

Why the State Must Do It Quickly

Addabbo continues, “The future existence of Aqueduct as a racetrack depends on a quick selection process.”

Senator Addabbo additionally submits a joint statement he obtained from Gary LaBarbera, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, and Louis Coletti, President and CEO, Building Trades Employers Association. The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York includes local affiliates of 15 national and international unions representing 100,000 working men and women in the five boroughs of New York City:

The development of a racino at Aqueduct represents a critically important and time-sensitive opportunity to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in desperately needed revenue for the state and to create 1,000 union construction jobs for an industry that has lost 21,000 jobs in the last two years.

Due to these factors, we call on the state to proceed with selecting one of the remaining qualified bidders that can both build quickly and provide the state with the upfront money to help close the budget deficit.

The developer must furthermore commit to exclusively use union labor and contractors of the building and construction industry in New York City. This commitment is the only way to assure that New York City residents will be employed on this project at good wages with health insurance and pensions and that local communities will share in the economic opportunity to be created.

We must proceed with the selection of a developer that meets this criteria now. We cannot afford the further and unnecessary delays associated with going through another lengthy request-for-proposals process when other well qualified bidders are ready to invest in making this development a reality.

Why the Project Must Go Forward

Adds the Senator, “If the project at Aqueduct does not occur and it ceases to remain a racetrack, quite possibly the state could sell the land to any developer. Based on the current zoning of the Aqueduct property, most any kind of development could happen there as of right, without a hint of community input. Residents and their concerns would be totally shut out of the process and the finished product. The community’s worse nightmare could become a reality at Aqueduct if it stops being operated as a racetrack.”

Seinfeld Appears On 'SNL' To Rip Eric Massa...

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Continuing to promote "The Marriage Ref" by simply being Jerry Seinfeld, the comedian joined Seth Meyers last night for the segment "Really!?! With Seth And Jerry." Seinfeld took on the role originated by Amy Poehler as he and Meyers laid into Eric Massa. Asked Seinfeld: "Why do I have the feeling that Massa massages were followed by Massa-bations?"

SNL opened the show last night with a sketch mocking Eric Massa and the ever-growing list of "non-sexual" acts he engaged in with his staff. Cutting away to his memories, we finally got a glimpse at the tickle-fest that was his 50th birthday, as well as insight as to what "snorkeling" actually is. And while it may seem lewd, it's nothing compared to his stint in the Navy.

Free Health Fair in Ridgewood on March 20th Sponsored by Senator Joe Addabbo...

Click on Image to Enlarge...

What: Health Fair Sponsored by Senator Joe Addabbo
When: Saturday, March 20th from 10AM to 2PM
Where: Trinity Reformed Church in Ridgewood 66-30 60th Place.
The event is FREE..!

Longtime Leader Sears Faces Challenger by Azi Paybarah - The New York Observer

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Helen Sears flirted with the idea of running as a Republican in the special election for Hiram Monserrate's State Senate seat.

Now, she's got a challenge for her position as a district leader. Sears, who's been a district leader as long as I've been alive (literally!), is facing a challenge from Jessica Ramos, a local union organizer.

Ramos told me, "I am running for District Leader in the 34th Assembly District--Part A--because we need change. The incumbent has failed to live up to the values of the party."

There's also a racial undercurrent to this race that can't be ignored. Sears is white, Ramos is Hispanic, and the demographics in the neighborhood are trending away from Sears and more towards Ramos.

Just another fun race to watch in Jackson Heights

Richmond Hill Journal - Richmond Hill in Queens Aims to Do Better With Census by Kirk Semple - NYTimes.com

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Harpreet Toor, left, and Ravisharon Kaur talked with members of the South Asian community in Queens about the census. Eirini Vourloumis for The New York Times

Kulwinder Singh, a 52-year-old Punjabi Sikh who works as a tow-truck operator, approached a young community organizer who was taping a promotional poster for the 2010 census to a wall inside his temple in Richmond Hill, Queens. Mr. Singh looked perplexed.

Related

The 2010 Census Form

The New York Times

Percentage of 2000 Census questionnaires returned by mail, in selected tracts

“Population count,” the organizer, Herminder Singh, 19, explained in Punjabi, before launching into a detailed explanation of the survey.

The older man listened intently, finally declaring, with a resolve that would warm the heart of any census official: “My family has 10 to 15 members. When the form comes, I’ll fill it out.”

Those forms will start arriving in the mail next week, and government officials say the success of this year’s census will depend heavily on the grassroots efforts of thousands of nonprofit, corporate and community organizations that have volunteered to mobilize their constituents to complete the forms and mail them in.

They have their work cut out for them in Richmond Hill, a middle-class neighborhood with a large South Asian and Indo-Caribbean population. In the 2000 census, swaths of the area had some of the most dismal response rates in the city, with only about 4 in 10 households mailing back the forms.

This time around, members of Seva, a community-based organization that works with Richmond Hill’s immigrants, have vowed to raise those numbers by acting as advance troops for the Census Bureau.

“We understood how there was a vacuum in the community,” said Gurpal Singh, 34, the group’s executive director, who was born in the Punjab region of India and has lived in Richmond Hill since 1985. “We looked at what happened in 2000, which was nothing.”

Census officials say these advocates will be crucial in helping to dispel fears that the information they provide on the form will be used against them. Though the law protects the confidentiality of the information, many illegal immigrants fear that providing their personal information could lead to deportation. The group members can also help overcome language obstacles — a particular concern in Queens, where nearly half the residents were born overseas.

“The challenge is the thing that we’re also very proud of, and it’s our diversity,” said Susie Tannenbaum, the community and cultural coordinator for the borough president’s office. “So many language groups, so many immigrant populations.”

Richmond Hill, once heavily Italian and Irish, has changed drastically in recent decades. South Asians, particularly Indians, began settling there in large numbers during the mid-20th century. They were followed, beginning in the 1970s, by Guyanese and Trinidadians — descendants of Indians taken to the Caribbean in the 19th century to work as contract laborers on sugar plantations. The neighborhood is also home to one of the world’s largest Punjabi Sikh populations outside India.

Gurpal Singh and his partners at Seva decided to get involved in the census outreach more than a year ago because it dovetailed with their work as organizers. They saw it as a way “to get people into the room, to get them talking and to then discuss other things,” Mr. Singh said.

They have conducted scores of seminars for Richmond Hill businesses, community groups and its plethora of mosques, Sikh and Hindu temples and Christian churches. They have sent out e-mail blasts and used Facebook.

“We’ve been taking the grassroots approach, just making sure the local real estate guy understands what the census is about and the message he should send out to his clients,” Mr. Singh said.

The group’s attention to the neighborhood’s cultural subtleties is reflected in the thousands of posters and leaflets it has printed. Leaflets for the Punjabi population, for instance, are in Punjabi, illustrated with photos of Sikhs in turbans. But those for the Guyanese population are in English, with images of West Indian people.

“Because we live in the neighborhood, we have to use our instincts to know whether someone is going to walk by a poster and think it’s sexy,” said Ravisharon Kaur, 35, director of programs and development for Seva.

But some of the most critical work has begun only in the past few weeks, as organizers and their workers — many of them high school and college students, like Herminder Singh — blanket the neighborhood with literature and address constituents’ concerns one-on-one.

On a recent Sunday, Nadia Kahnauth, a Guyanese-American lawyer and Seva representative, stood in front of her congregation at the Bhuvaneshwar Mandir temple and gave a short speech about the census. (The temple is in Ozone Park, but draws some of its mainly Guyanese congregation from neighboring Richmond Hill.)

After the service, Ms. Kahnauth, clutching a stack of Census literature and flanked by her husband and three school-age volunteers, stood next to a statue of the Hindu deity Ganesha and buttonholed congregants as they filed by in stockinged feet.

“Do you have any questions about the census?” Ms. Kahnauth cheerily asked a Guyanese man. He stopped, a confused look on his face.

“It’s very simple,” she said, explaining the process.

“O.K.,” the man said, nodding, though his apprehensive smile and wary glances suggested otherwise. As he headed toward the door, Ms. Kahnauth smiled and shrugged, as if to say she had done the best she could.

The Seva activists acknowledge that they have not done enough to take aim at the neighborhood’s growing yet atomized Latino population, which accounts for about 28 percent of the total. In coming days, the group plans to dispatch a team of interns to canvass Latino businesses and storefront evangelical churches.

And once the census campaign is over, organizers will turn to a cause that hangs on the results of the count: the redrawing of state and federal legislative districts. They intend to leave the neighborhood census committees in place.

With a slight tweak to the committee names and a major shift in focus, they will be ready for their next battle.